That made my stomach dip with panic and he pressed a finger to my mouth stilling the protest he knew was coming. "I don't know how to protect myself from this spirit that just came between us. I don't want to put you at risk. But I also don't want you staying here if there's something evil in this house."
"I'm not afraid of it, Kade. I'm afraid of what we might inadvertently let it do, but I know we can beat this thing ... especially once we know what we are up against."
Kade drew away and checked the door. It opened as it should and he sighed with relief. Then a sense of purpose flooded his face and he stalked out of the room.
I chased after him. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to remove the locks on these doors."
It wasn't a bad idea but it was such a shame he had to do it now. "Can't it wait until morning?"
"No." He stopped at the top of the stairs to turn and look at me. "I don't want to give it anymore chances to stir trouble. Not in that direction anyway." He started down the stairs. "I'm not sure what we can do about the bed shaking."
Me neither but there had to be something. Kade located his tool bag on the bench in the hall. I thought it a small miracle that the thing was still there. So did Kade until he went through it and dropped the bag back on the bench in disgust. "My cordless drill is gone."
Wordlessly, I turned to a long decorative table against the wall opposite the bench and opened one of its top drawers. Inside it was a small household tool case and a quick check showed me that all the screwdrivers were present. I turned and handed the case to him. "Will any of these do?"
Kade nodded with satisfaction and sent me a bone-melting grin. "Why yes, my lady, it sure will."
I knew our fleeting encounter in the bedroom ... where we almost managed to make love ... was foremost in his thoughts for his eyes darkened with heated intensity as they met mine and a flash of warmth raced through me. My knees went weak and I put a hand out to the table next to me to steady myself.
Kade took the two steps needed to get close enough to kiss me and did so with slow thoroughness. He lifted his mouth just a fraction and met my half closed eyes. "We will continue this later.” And then as an afterthought, “Maybe not on the bed though."
A little bemused by that enticing statement, I followed his progress up the stairs with my eyes. Once he went out of sight, I headed down the hall towards the great room. Although I loved it and knew I would spend a lot of time there, I hadn't thought how I might feel about it once the sun went down. The dark windows stood like silent sentinels, barring the view to the outside world yet a blaring beacon for those on the outside looking in.
The distinct chill of being watched from beyond those panes made goose bumps rise on my arms and I quickly calmed myself with logic. The ghosts were inside the house surely. Hadn't their romp with my bed told us as much? There was nothing out there to watch my movements except maybe a large gray cat.
I knew just what I needed and was glad to find the old steamer trunk without having to search for it. Someone had placed it next to the hall doorway, making it easily accessible. I dropped down next to it with a sigh of relief and opened the lid with a sense of purpose, knowing that whatever I needed ... I would find it here. If only I had done this earlier in the day when the sun was still up.
The white sage smudging bundles I was looking for were stacked in a cedar box and as luck would have it, I didn't have to scrounge for that either. The box was sitting right on top. I lifted it from the trunk then opened the lid to check and see if the bundles were still there. In this house, one had to be sure. I grabbed the box of small white candles that had been tucked next to it and closed the trunk's lid.
After a quick glance around to ensure everything was as it should be, I turned off the light and headed down the hall, my back crawling with the feeling of being closely followed as I did so. No matter. I would not swing around and give this thing the satisfaction of making me do so.
For a medium, you'd think I'd be picking up on these unseen visitors but it was like they were veiled from my awareness until their energy grew too strong to hide. I needed to become more sensitive to them or this was going to be a tough week ahead.
I heard Kade making noises upstairs as he removed the lock mechanisms from the doors and smiled with contentment that he was here with me. He was right ... I wouldn't have wanted to be here alone. Something dark and evil lurked in this house and Kade's presence gave me the boost in confidence I needed to fight it off. We would get rid of it. One way or another. No Matter What.
At the top of the stairs, I paused to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for the smudging ritual. I did this by going through the process of bringing my focus in on myself and the solid matter around me. The spirit world operated within the same space as we did and so I had to be sure to be grounded in one reality before dealing with the other. It was very important that I be in the right frame of mind to do what needed to be done. Since negative thoughts bring about negative feelings which then attract negative forces, I needed my mental and emotional states to be positive and confident.
The solid matter of our dimension was of no consequence to the spirit world. Things without substance, however, did seem to interact within their sphere of existence. The smudging herbs, when burned, became something without substance and its energy increased to a degree that it could overcome and neutralize negative vibrations. Once that happened, positive energy could be infused. Basically, it was going to clear the air of the darkness in which the baser spirits lurked. The energy of light is too high a vibration for them to maintain a presence for long and this is why there is refuge in the light and why bad things more often take place at night.
Much of Kade's problem was the same as it was for many others. Since the spirit world is energy based, it can't be definitely proven and so believing in this stuff is difficult. As for me, it was thanks to Sheila's guidance and Shay's training (a psychic medium who helped me a lot when I first learned of my own medium abilities) that I was a little better prepared to deal with this. Not that I knew it all because I didn't and quite frankly, it was what I didn't know that worried me.
Then again, all I had to do was call on Sheila and trust my spiritual instinct. God, I believed, gave us all we needed to know to combat anything and everything thrown at us from the dark side. I had to smile a little at that thought. Given my beliefs, it was small wonder I was a total Star Wars geek. I truly believed a lot of truth was channeled into those stories! But movies aside, it was my current reality I had to deal with. It would be great if this was nothing more than a movie or a book plot even, but it was real enough and it was going to get worse if I didn't start fighting it.
The episode in the bedroom where that thing momentarily influenced Kade's actions had me more than a little worried. As I lit the sage and gently waved the fragrant smoke about the room, I hoped Kade wouldn't show up and negate my efforts. He didn't think much of these little rituals of mine. He looked at it as the burning of herbs and that was it. Although he believed in my gift, he didn't buy into the whole "everything has an energy level and thus a vibratory field" belief. And with that being the case, he didn't think such things as burning sage could have any beneficial influence on anything. Thankfully for us, I did believe in it and that was going to be our saving grace.
Kade had removed the locks on our bedroom and bathroom doors and was now headed for the third floor to take care of the door leading into the attic. It was a good thought for neither of us would relish getting locked in up there, charming though the room was.
Thankful to have him out of the way, I continued along room to room waving the fragrant smoke about while asking God to bless each room, clear it of negative energy and protect it from future invasions. I took more time in our room and the private bath and even included the large walk-in closet that I'd fallen in love with during my first tour of the house. It had all sorts of cabinets and shelves and hanging rods in which to put things and hang things and t
hough it was crammed with boxes right now, I couldn't wait to begin emptying those boxes and organizing my clothes.
After finishing the closet, I turned toward the bed and waved the sage smoke above it, taking extra time to imagine the bed bathed in light and putting an imaginary shield of protection around it. No more shaking beds if I had anything to say about it.
Since my sage was nearly burned away, I placed the remaining bits into the candle holder and set it on the dresser. After giving thanks for the spiritual assistance, I blew out the candle and satisfied to have accomplished that important task, I went in search of Kade.
I found him sitting at the bottom of the attic stairs. The frown on his face caused my internal alarm to flare in concern and I rushed to him with a strong sense of trepidation. "Kade? Is something wrong?"
"It pushed me, Tess. I nearly fell down the damn stairs. Thankfully I managed to grab the rail and break the fall but I've twisted the muscles in my thigh and it hurts like a bitch." He gave a small grimace and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry but I'm not used to being shoved around by bodiless dead people. It's rather disturbing." Giving a small shake of his head, he pushed himself to his feet and slipped an arm around my shoulders. "You've felt them touch you before, haven't you, Tess?"
Concerned for his leg which was injured pretty badly from a road side bomb explosion while deployed to Afghanistan, I wrapped my arm around his waist for extra support and walked with him back to our room. We sat down on the edge of the bed and as soon as he was settled, Kade started massaging his thigh muscle. I watched with sympathy and wished there was something I could do to alleviate his pain. "I'm so sorry, Kade. This entity is more malevolent than anything I've ever encountered before."
Kade grasped my hand and pressed it to his mouth. "Don't worry about it, Tess. We'll figure out how to get rid of the big bad and then we'll live happily ever after."
"Big bad?"
Kade grinned. "I was never one to watch that Buffy the Vampire Slayer series but my ... Amy used to watch it. I thought it was a stupid show. All I can remember is them talking about defeating" he put his fingers up for air quotes, "The big bad". He scratched the back of his head and gave me a somewhat baffled shrug. "Who knew I'd be dealing with my own big bad and experiencing similar stuff one day."
Though I was sorry a painful part of Kade's past was brought into recall (Amy is his ex-fiancé who is now married to his ex-best friend), I couldn't help but laugh. "Honestly, Kade, I can tell you that there are no vampires lurking about the town of Bucksport."
"Vampires, ghosts .... does it really matter what we're discussing here? Both are quite far-fetched to believe and yet one of them just about shoved me down a flight of stairs, not to mention," he gave a little bounce on the bed. "The joy ride they gave us and at a most inopportune time."
And just like that the room went warm, the air robbed of oxygen. Despite all the disruptions and the spirit activity zipping about the atmosphere, my hormones were no less amped up. Judging from Kade's burning gaze, I'd say his libido wasn't in short supply either. Needing to calm the sensual excitement growing between us, I waved a hand toward the hallway. "So what happened on the stairs?"
Kade ran a hand along my collarbone and into my hair, pulling me toward him for a quick kiss. "Changing the subject are you? Fine." He pulled away and stood up to test his leg. "I think I'm healed!"
Laughing at his exaggerated tone of reverence, I swatted at his arm. "Praise the Lord and all that, now tell me what happened."
Hands on hips, his stance relaxed though I knew his mind was anything but that, Kade drew in a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "I pulled the locking mechanism out of the door and turned to come back down the stairs when I felt sure someone was standing behind me. I swear to you, Tess, I could almost hear it breathing which makes no sense because of course, ghosts don't need to breath do they?" Before I could say anything he went on with his story. "Naturally I saw nothing but it just didn't matter. Though my eyes saw nothing, I know something was there. I took a step back, forgetting I was on the stairs and started to teeter and that's when I felt a rush of cold air and then pressure on my shoulder. It didn't exactly feel like a hand giving me a shove and yet that is still the impression I had. Luckily I twisted just enough to grab the hand rail." His brow lifted in inquiry as he looked down and met my eyes. "You didn't hear me? I know I made quite a bit of noise as I slipped down two steps and slammed into the wall."
I didn't hear a thing. In fact, thinking back on it, the house was eerily quiet as I conducted my sage cleansing activity. "I guess I was just so focused on what I was doing that I blotted out all other sound." But didn't something like this happen before? I was nearly sure that I'd been in a situation where a lot of noise should have been made and yet no one heard a thing.
"It's all a curious thing isn't it, Tess?"
When I looked at him for clarification, he sank back down beside me and pulled me into his arms, linking his hands on my lap and rubbing my hip with his thumb. Just that one little action was driving me a little crazy inside but I was willing to bet he didn't even realize what he was doing. "A few months ago I didn't even believe in ghosts and now I'm getting shoved around by them."
"Getting involved with someone like me takes a lot of open-minded thought. I hope you don't regret it." It was a constant worry of mine. What if it became too much?
"Are you kidding me? Life just got a lot more interesting." He pulled a rueful face before resting his chin against my head and giving me a gentle squeeze. "My biggest regret is that I don't know how to protect you from something I can't see or touch. This sort of warfare is beyond my understanding and that is frustrating for someone like me."
I wondered what he'd think if I told him I felt pretty much the same way. The dark entity causing the ruckus in my home was unlike anything I've ever dealt with before and I wasn't sure what to do about it. "I'm thinking we might need some help on this one."
"Help? What, you going to call some ghost busters? Do those people actually exist?" And then, before I could answer, he added thoughtfully, "As long as they are as cool as Bill Murray, you can give them a call ... should be fun."
Laughing, I tilted my head up to press a kiss on his smiling mouth. "No I'm not going to call a ghost buster. But I'm thinking maybe we should have the house blessed by someone whose life is devoted to the divinity of God. I think their blessings will add more oomph than my own."
"Oomph? Now there's a word." Kade chuckled then pulled away enough to meet my eyes and gage the seriousness of my words. "You're going to call a priest? Do they still do house blessings these days? Are you going to tell him why?"
"Although I'm sure a Catholic priest would be happy to bless this house, I was thinking more about having a Spiritualist pastor do the honors."
"A Spiritualist pastor? And where are you going to find one of those?"
"I looked it up on the internet and there's a Spiritualist camp located in a town not far from here called Northport. I asked Barbara about it and she said that it's only about a thirty minute drive to get there. I thought we could go check it out. The camp closes for the winter at the end of the month so we need to do it soon."
"What exactly is a Spiritualist camp?"
"Well, it's not a campground if that's what you are thinking. From what I understand, The Tipping Point has been around for a long time and is more like a hotel. People do live there, though, for they maintain the property as well as conduct Spiritualist activities. They also rent out rooms."
Kade's expression became cautious. "What sort of activities?"
Laughing again because I could just imagine what might be blowing through his mind, I patted his leg. "Oh just rituals of all sorts and conjuring spells."
"Conjuring spells?"
"Yeah, you know where they call forth spirits to manifest into our world." And then I couldn't contain my mirth any longer and broke into peals of laughter. I laughed so hard I nearly peed myself and that made me l
augh even more. Kade let me go because I needed to fall back on the bed in an effort to relieve my aching stomach muscles. "Oh, Kade! You should see your face." Another fit of laughter and then somehow or other, I managed to get myself back under control. "They don't conduct rituals or conjure anything. They have church services and something they call "circles" but they are for healing, meditation and the bringing of messages."
"Bringing of messages? From the other side I presume?"
I nodded and though my laughter was under control, I couldn't help the continuous smile stretching my mouth wide with amusement. "Of course from the other side. They are Spiritualist after all. They deal with all things spiritual. It's all good and positive I assure you. Spiritualists want nothing to do with evil and negative vibrations."
"So you'll find a Spiritualist pastor there and you think he will come here to bless the house?"
"He or she. I think there are as many female pastors as male. It's an equal opportunity church. People of all types are welcome there."
"All types? Like me for instance?" Now Kade was smiling.
"Yes even people like you." I held out my hand to him and he stretched out beside me but stayed propped on an elbow in order to continue our conversation. "What other types are you talking about?"
"Well they don't discriminate against anyone. Gay people for instance aren't considered any different than those who aren't gay. It just doesn't matter to them. Spiritualists do not believe it to be a sin." I watched Kade carefully to see how he took that. Him being a Marine and very military minded, I was curious where he stood on the issue.
"I see. Well then, that should make them feel quite accepted and comfortable there." His gaze narrowed thoughtfully. "So do Spiritualists believe in the bible?"
"Oh certainly but their interpretation of it is not the same as the Catholics' for instance."
"You mean on the gay issue?"
Vanquishing Ghosts (Tess Schafer-Medium) Page 6